She was tired, with that tiredness that only emptiness brings.

Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains

Even though he was afraid to admit it, when he was with her it seemed it was worth doing all those normal things that normal people do.

People took what they wanted, they clutched at coincidences, the few there were, and made a life from them. . . . Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains.

She hadn't chosen him over all the others. The truth was that she hadn't even thought about anyone else.

The love of those we don't love in return settles on the surface and from there quickly evaporates.

Feeling special is the worst kind of cage a person can build for himself.

Why did you choose to stay here?" (...) "I don't know," he said. "It's as if there's more oxygen here.

Mattia's voice no longer stirred anything in his stomach, but he was aware of the idea of him and always would be, as the only true benchmark for everything that had come afterward.

...finally her hands, so light, holding his head still and catching all his thoughts and imprisoning them there, in the space that no longer existed between them.

Mattia thought that he and Alice were like that, twin primes, alone and lost, close but not close enough to really touch each other.

The passive voice could always be used to obscure blame.

But first you have to fight, to try other ways. If your life displeases you, my lad, try to change it. Don't give in to defeat so easily. Death is the only sure defeat. It is the end of everything.

Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.

We [Americans] have to get beyond the greed-run-amok. We have to get beyond indifference to the poor and working people. We have to get beyond polarized politics.

If you're in a hurry to find happiness, slow down. Give it a chance to catch up with you.

The older you get, the more fragile you understand life to be. I think that's good motivation for getting out of bed joyfully each day.

When what you do and care about is aligned with what the market wants and cares about, you've created a recipe for career success.

Has President Bush exceeded his constitutional authority or acted illegally in authorizing wiretaps without a warrant? Benjamin Franklin would not have thought so.

It is not known precisely where angels dwell whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode.

My God, my higher power. It's mine and mine alone. I create my connection and I decide how my connection is going to be.